Code Lyoko: Unexpected Love
by finkfly90
Summary: Ulrich lost the fight for Yumi's heart to William and with everyone else busy, he spends more time with with Aelita, which leads to them dating. Have both of them unexpectedly found true love within each other? UlrichXAelita YumiXWilliam and eventually JeremyXOC
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Code Lyoko or any of their characters**

Chapter 1

It's been 5 months since the battle with Xana ceased and the Lyoko Warriors finally returned to their normal lives without any threat of a Xana attack. "Alright Yumi, we have known each other a long time and…" _No that won't work.. _Ulrich Stern was currently in the park walking back and forth, apparently practicing what he's about to say to Yumi. Ulrich is dressed in his army jacket with a dark green shirt under it and blue jeans.

He also won a couple front row tickets for tonights subdigitals concert in a contest a local radio show hosted, now he's trying to find the perfect way to ask Yumi to go with him. Ulrich has had a crush on Yumi since the moment they met while taking pencak silat classes and this feeling only grew stronger since they became friends and teamed up in the fight against Xana, but Ulrich has always been too scared to make the first move.

But this time, Ulrich is confident that he can summon the courage to ask the asian girl out on a date. After a while of practicing what he was going to say to her, he sent a text to Yumi to meet him in the park as soon as possible. Ulrich then took a deep breath and sat down on a empty bench. After about 15 minutes later, Yumi was walking through the park and put a smile on her face when she noticed Ulrich. Ulrich suddenly began to have second thoughts when he make eye contact with Yumi, but the thought of backing out was quickly dismissed and Ulrich approached him.

"Hey Ulrich, what's up?" Yumi asked the brown haired boy with a small smile. Ulrich's face has completely turned bright red as he lead he to a bench without saying word. He found his heart was beating faster then normal and his stomach was full of butterflies. "W-Well, you see…" Ulrich started, but then there was a pause and it looked like he was thinking of what he was about to say next. Yumi looked at him with a 'go on' expression.

_Come on Ulrich, it's now or never.. _Ulrich thought to himself and took a deep breath. "I have these tickets to the subdigitals concert tonight and I was wondering if you would you like to go with me?" Ulrich finally asked Yumi, holding onto a deep breath as he waited for her response. Yumi's face suddenly turned pale and blushed in response to his question. "Are you asking me out on a date?" Yumi asked Ulrich, her face full of seriousness. Ulrich was a moment away from just implying that it wouldn't be a date but he was already this far, he can't turn around now. Ulrich just nodded simply and wait to see where this led him.

Yumi just let out a sad sigh, this is what she feared. "I'm sorry Ulrich, but I've been keeping a secret from you guys." Yumi started and she bit her lip when she saw the fear in Ulrich's eyes. "I've been dating William for a couple weeks now and it looks like it's getting serious." Yumi shook her head and placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to show him comfort. "I'm really sorry, I hope that this won't ruin our friendship." Yumi told him then she got up and walked away from the sulking teen, going back to her original plan which was to do homework with William in his room.

Ulrich can feel his heart shatter into a million pieces. He was too late, the girl of his dreams was taken but he had no one to blame but himself. He wanted to hate William for this, he really does, but he had plenty of opportunities to make a move on her and backed out at the last minute. He can't blame William for doing what he was too scared to do. Ulrich stood up from his seat and made him way back to his room.

Once there, he noticed that the only living soul in the room was Kiwi, his roommates loveable dog who seemed to be excited to see him. He thought this was weird until he remembered Odd tell him that he was out on yet another date and he'll be out all day. "Figures." Ulrich said out loud and laid down on his bed, he can't stop thinking of Yumi. He stared at the ceiling as he thought about what could've been.

A few hours later, Ulrich exited his dorm room and made his way to the lunch room, hoping that some food would keep his mind off rejection. Ulrich grabbed a bowl of soup and some crackers before looking for a place to sit down. His heart sank when he saw William and Yumi sitting at a table by themselves in a corner, laughing at a joke William made.

Ulrich sighed and found an empty table from him to sit down at. Then he rested his head in his hand and stared at his soup, spinning his spoon around in it as he remembered his rejection. "Hey Ulrich!" He snapped back to reality when he suddenly heard someone call his name. When he looked up, he was surprised to see the smiling face of Aelita. "Hey Aelita…" Ulrich said sadly and he went back to playing with his soup. "Well it looks like someones down in the dumps today, what's wrong?" Aelita asked her friend, a smile still implanted on her face. "I would rather not talk about it." Ulrich said simply, not even looking up to face her. "What are you Jim?" Aelita laughed at her own little joke and Ulrich smiled a little.

"Is this about Yumi and William?" Aelita asked him, a serious tone in her voice is apparent. "You know?!" Ulrich asked as his head shot up to face his pink haired friend. "Well yeah, I'm surprised it took Yumi this long to tell you." Aelita shrugged and had a little of her own soup. "But then again, considering the history between the two of you I can understand why Yumi wouldn't want to hurt your feelings by telling you that you that she was taken." Ulrich sighed and broke a couple crackers on his soup. "Well I wish I knew this before I suffered through the most embarrassing moment of my life." Ulrich said as he ate a spoonful of his soup.

"Aw, I'm sorry…" Aelita let out a sympathetic moan, putting it all together in her head. Ulrich on the other hand was looking for a way to change the subject and he finally noticed that someone was missing. "Hey, where's Jeremy?" Aelita choked on her soup a little when Jeremy was mentioned, which surprised Ulrich. "Um, Are you ok?" Ulrich asked the pink haired girl, placing his spoon down and folded his arms, deciding that he's not hungry. "Oh, uh yeah… everything's cool…" Aelita said putting on a clearly fake smile, she picked up on some slang over these last couple months.

"Did you two get in a fight?" Ulrich asked, his voice slightly above a whisper. Aelita sighed and put her own spoon down as well. "Well, sorta." Aelita admitted to her friend, playing with her fingers a little and Ulrich leaned in close as he awaited details. "It's nothing big, it's just that we're not as close as we were a couple months ago when we were battling Xana." Aelita said, looking at the floor. "We're still good friends, but it seems that except for being smart, we have nothing in common." This caught Ulrich by surprise, is the one relationship that was supposed to last over just like that? Aelita sighed and resumed to eating her soup in silence for a few minutes.

Ulrich placed his hand in his pocket and pulled out the subdigitals tickets and held them just below the table so Aelita wouldn't see what he was holding. He was a second away from just ripping them up and moving on, but then he looked up at Aelita then back at the tickets before making a decision.

"Hey Aelita." Ulrich said suddenly, causing the pink haired girl to lift her head to look at him. "I won these tickets a for the subdigitals concert tonight, you wanna go?" Ulrich asked, holding up the tickets for Aelita to see. "Really? You want to go with me?" Aelita asked him, this question seemed to come out of nowhere from her perspective. Ulrich smiled and nodded in response. "Well…" Aelita started, playing with her fingers as she thought about it. "Sure, it'll be fun!" Aelita said, a smile returning to her face.

"Great, pick you up at 6?" Ulrich asked the pink haired girl with a grin upon his own face. "Sure, see ya then!" Aelita waved goodbye as she picked up her tray and went to throw it away. A minute later, Ulrich blushed hard as he realized this is technically a date that they're going on.


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Code Lyoko or any or their characters**

Chapter 2

**Time: 5: 23 PM**

Ulrich is currently in his room, getting ready for the upcoming concert. Ulrich is dressed in his dark green cargo pants with a black button up dress shirt, with the first few buttons undone. He wants to look he tried to look nice with a somewhat casual look.

Then suddenly, Odd entered the room, holding an awful red mark which was looked like it was tattooed on his face by a firm hand.

"Hey, look at you!" Odd said loudly, which cause Ulrich to jump. "Big date tonight?"

"First of all, never do that again!" Ulrich said, throwing a shoe at him. "Second, I'm going to the subdigital's concert tonight and…"

"And you didn't invite me?!" Odd interrupted, pretending to hold his heart like it was broken.

Ulrich rolled his eyes as he picked up his shoes and began to tie them.

"So tell me, who's the lucky lady?" Odd asked as he layed on his bed and pulled out a comic book, opening it to a random page.

"None of your business…" Ulrich said, scratching his face to cover his blushing.

"Alright, just answer this question." Odd sat up for a second. "This girl wouldn't have pink hair would she?"

Ulrich's face turned pale as he faced Odd. "W-What gave you that idea?"

Odd just rolled his eyes. "Cause I know you, it's rare for you to ask out a girl suddenly, you have to know her." Odd said, laying back down on the bed. "Since Yumi's taken, it has too be either Aelita or Sissi."

Odd suddenly had a look of fear on his face. "Please don't tell me you're going with Sissi!"

"No! Of course not!" Ulrich shuttered at the thought of Sissi. "And it doesn't have to be Aelita, I know other girls."

This just caused Odd to laugh at him, angering Ulrich.

"I don't even think this is a date." Ulrich started as he applied some cologne. "It's just two friends going to a concert, no different if you and me were going."

"I should be going!" Odd yelled, a smirk his face.

"Whatever, I'm going to be late." Ulrich slapped hands with Odd and left the room.

"Good luck baby!" Ulrich heard Odd tease from behind the closed door

**Outside Aelita's room**

Ulrich arrived just outside Aelita's door and he knocked on the door after a deep breath.

"Just a minute!" Ulrich heard from behind the door and a few seconds later the door opened. Aelita is wearing a black jacket with a matching black tank top with a giant pink star in the middle. She's also wearing a pink mini skirt with black leggings.

Ulrich's mouth was opened wide in shock, this outfit is something Aelita would rarely wear. Why is she wearing it now, is it for him?! This thought caused him to blush.

Ulrich's reaction caused Aelita to giggle a little. "Ready to go?"

Ulrich dismissed these thoughts and nodded in response. Both teens began the short walk to the concert, smiles on both their faces.

**After the Concert**

Aelita is walking down the street with a little skip in her step. "Wow, I haven't had that much fun in ages!"

"Yeah, it was a great time." Ulrich said, walking right behind the still ecstatic girl. "What was your favorite part?"

"Definitely when Chris stage dived into the crowd after the final performance." Aelita told him, slowing down so she and Ulrich were walking side by side.

Ulrich nodded in agreement. "I have to agree with you there princess."

In order to get back to Kadic, the teens have to go through a back ally which currently has a gang occupying the corners. The gang has no more then 5 people just leaning against a wall.

Ulrich tried to lead Aelita past the gang without making eye contact with any of the members, no need to cause any trouble.

Then all of a sudden, a guy with a shaved head and a black leather jacket reached out and grabbed Aelita's arm. "Hey cutie, how you drop the zero and add a hero." The guy said with a weird smile.

"Let go of me you creep!" Aelita pulled away, her heart beating fast as she was grabbed.

"Let go of her buddy!" Ulrich pulled them apart and stood in front of the man.

"Yo boss, want us to end this kid?" Ulrich turned around and saw a bunch of them walking towards him.

Ulrich whispered to Aelita to run away and call the police, then he push her away before Ulrich was circled by the entire gang.

Aelita was hesitant but eventually ran away, a couple tears running down her face as she pulled out her phone, all she can do is wish that Ulrich will be alright.

Ulrich looked at each individual man. Neither of them looked really impressive, it was just the numbers that intimidated him. 5-1 isn't very good odds for Ulrich.

Not wasting time, Ulrich landed a round house kick against one of the goons and landed a couple good shots against a couple others.

Then when Ulrich turned around, he walked right into a punch by the leader. That one punch almost knocked out Ulrich and caused tremendous pain in his head. He put his hand on his forehead to check the damage, it turns out his he has an open cut on his head and he's bleeding bad.

He looked over at the leader and noticed that he has something attached to his hand, which he determined was brass knuckles.

Then like vultures, the goons began to punch and kick Ulrich repeatedly while he laid on the ground, defenseless.

"Get em up!" The boss ordered pulling a knife out of his pocket. With help of the goons, Ulrich staggered to his feet, completely drained of his strength.

"Say goodbye kid!" The boss sharpened his knife and before he can deliver the final blow, he was tackled to the ground by a shadowy figure.

When the others dropped Ulrich and tried to help their leader, they were met by more shadowy figures. This caused a huge brawl to erupt.

"Ulrich!" The bloody boy heard someone call his name and he was met with a soft hug. He looked up and saw the tear stained face of Aelita. "It's ok, it'll be ok…" He heard Aelita whisper as she tried to help him up, his arm around her neck for support.

"Hey girl!" Aelita backed up as she saw the now beat up boss, bruises all over his face. The worst part, he's still holding his knife.

As the bloody Ulrich saw the man run at Aelita with the knife in hand, he used the last of his strength to jump in front of Aelita and stand in the way of the blade in order to protect her. A few seconds later, Ulrich let out a scream in pain as his stomach was penetrated by the sharp knife. Just as fast as the blade entered it left and the villain pushed him to the ground.

As Ulrich fell to the ground, he heard Aelita cry out his name in fear and sadness. As he drifted in and out of consciousness, he finally heard the sounds of police sirens coming from just outside the ally.

_Then everything suddenly turned black…_


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Code Lyoko or any or their characters!**

_Chapter 3_

When Ulrich finally woke up, the sun was shining bright and a little bit peeked into his eyes. He looked around and noticed that he wasn't in his dorm, he was in a hospital bed. The walls were bland and boring except for a few pictures from a sick kids from the past.

On top of that, pain in Ulrich's head and stomach made it clear, last night was not a dream, Ulrich looked down and saw a certain someone with pink hair resting her on the foot of the bed, by her lack of moment Ulrich determined that she fell asleep.

"A-Aelita?" Ulrich said softly, so soft that she remained asleep. Suddenly, there was a loud creeking noise and Ulrich turned his head towards the doorway.

Odd and Jeremy were standing there, open containers of yogurt in both their hands and smiles on their faces. "Your finally awake!" Jeremy said, letting out a sigh of relief.

Odd walked up to him and punched his arm softly. "So how's our hero feeling?" Odd asked with a smile, Ulrich took notice with the bandage upon his face.

"How do you think I feel?" Ulrich said with a smile, which quickly faded. "How long was I out?"

Jeremy pulled up a seat from the corner and sat down. "Only about a day, doctors said that the surgery was successful and that you should be out in 2-3 days."

"Great…" Ulrich rolled his eyes, not happy with being stuck in the hospital for that amount of time.

"Hey be happy you survived!" Odd said leaning against the wall. "If we didn't show up when we did, those thugs would've finished the job.

"It was you guys that saved me?" Ulrich asked, looking at Odd and then Jeremy.

Jeremy nodded his head. "Odd, Yumi, William, and, I hurried over when Aelita called and told us what happened."

"William?!" Ulrich asked in shock. Even with the troubles between the both of them in the past, William defended him.

"Yeah, he really concerned when he heard the news." Odd said, looking out the window before turning back to Ulrich and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We're all just really happy that you're alright."

"Thank you." Ulrich said with a smile before looking down at the sleeping girl again, he noticed that she's still dressed in the same clothes she wore last night. "What about her?" The tone in his voice is full of concern.

"She alright, thanks to you." Odd said with a smile. "If you weren't there, then she would be in the same position as you if not worse."

"She refused to leave your bedside, she was crying all night for you." Jeremy said with a smile, before standing up. "You're her hero!"

Jeremy's final words made Aelita jump a little, she rubbed her eyes a little and when she looked up she met the smiling face of Ulrich. "Ulrich!" Aelita cheered, jumping up to give Ulrich an affectionate hug.

Ulrich cringed in pain, but he didn't complain and hugged her back.

"We better give them sometime alone." Jeremy whispered to Odd and exited the room. "Sweet breakfast!" Odd silently cheered as he followed Jeremy.

"Thank you so much Ulrich!" Aelita cuddled into his chest. "What you did was the bravest, nicest, and selfless thing I ever seen!"

"No need to thank me, Princess." Ulrich told her, rubbing her back in a comforting manor. "Just knowing that your save is the only reward I need."

Aelita raised her head and stared into his eyes, some fresh tears a forming in her eyes. "Do you really mean it?"

"Of course I do." Ulrich smiled, wiping the wet tears from her eyes. "I'd do anything for you, Princess."

Ulrich suddenly had a revelation, the reason why he didn't make a move for Yumi was because deep down he doesn't love Yumi. His true love has been in front of him the whole time and he's angry at himself since it took him this long to realize it.

After a few minutes of staring into each other's beautiful eyes, it seemed like neither of them couldn't take it anymore. Ulrich and Aelita both tilted their heads and leaned in for a long passionate kiss. After a long while, both of them finally separated.

Aelita looked like she was on Cloud 9. A relaxed smile is perched up on her face. Ever since she met the gang, all of them thought that she would end up with Jeremy including herself. But ever since the super computer shut done, the more Aelita saw Jeremy in a sibling like role.

Secretly, Aelita has been interested in Ulrich for a while but has been too scared to pull the trigger, a main reason for this was because she was afraid of what the others would think about it. Now she really doesn't care about what they think, all she knows now is that she needs Ulrich.

"Does this mean what I think this means?" Ulrich asked, as large smile across his face as he stared at Aelita's face. How did he not notice how beautiful she is earlier?

"I guess it does." Aelita has a matching smile across her own face, she turned her head and dove in for another kiss.

As Ulrich and Aelita were in a middle of a passionate kiss, the door creaked open and William entered the room and smirked when he saw the seen. He is dressed in a red long sleeve shirt under a regular black tee shirt, he has on a pair of blue jeans and a pair of boots. Then when the love birds didn't notice him, he crossed his arms and cleared his throat loudly causing the two teens to break apart.

"Oh sorry, was I interrupting something?" William asked, a smirk still visible on his face.

"N-No, we were just, uh…" Ulrich scratched his head, trying to think of a legitimate excuse.

William shook his head and began walking towards his fellow teens. "Whatever it's none of my business." He said, standing over Ulrich's bed. "Aelita, can you leave the room for a second so Ulrich and I can talk privately?"

"Oh, um sure, I guess…" Aelita said as she got off of Ulrich and walk out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"How're you feeling Stern?" William asked, pulling up a chair and crossed his legs casually.

Ulrich just shrugged his shoulders. "Good, I guess."

"Well, you're lucky we came when we did." William reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple pieces of gum. "Want one?"

"I'm good, thanks." Ulrich said, facing his head towards the ceiling. "But why'd you do it, I mean we've had a rough relationship in the past."

"Let me just say this Stern." William moved his chair a little closer so Ulrich can completely hear what he's saying. "You and me are not friends and we'll probably never be friends, but I have respect for you and you have the right lo live just like everyone else."

Ulrich nodded in agreement, they don't have to be friends but they have enough respect for each other to help each other when they need it.

"You have anything else you need to say to me?" William asked, getting ready to stand up from his chair.

Ulrich thought about it for a second. In the past, he would've given William a piece of his mind because he going out with Yumi. But that was before he realized his true feelings and found his soul mate in Aelita. He does still care about Yumi but he sees her in a big sister role now, like how Aelita sees Jeremy.

So Ulrich just shook his head. "No, you can leave if you have something to do."

"Yeah, I promised Yumi that I'd help her watch Hiroki." William said, standing up from his chair. "So I'll see ya later Stern."

"Alright, later." Ulrich said as William left the room, then Aelita returned a few minutes later.

"That was fast." Aelita commented as she walked towards the hospital bed. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, he just wanted to clear the air."

"That's good." Aelita pushed the chair William was sitting in towards in the direction were Ulrich's head is. "Now where were we?" Aelita tilted her head down and the two madly in love teens resumed their make out session.


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Code Lyoko or any or their characters!**

_Chapter 4_

Two months have passed since Ulrich was hospitalized and released from the hospital. Ulrich healed well and he is almost back to his normal self physically. Word has spread around quick that Ulrich and Aelita were an item, much to the disappointment of the girls and boys that had interested in them individually. But for the couple, everything seems like it's going perfectly. Ulrich is doing better in school with a lot of help from Aelita, who has found a passion for soccer thanks to Ulrich.

The two teens are now in Ulrich's dorm room, kissing each other passionately. Occasionally one of them would break free to tell the other how much they love each other before going back to kissing.

In the middle of this, Odd entered the room with a pout and a visible slap mark across his face. Odd slammed the door loudly as he entered and jumped on his bed burying his face in the pillow in anger, which caused Ulrich and Aelita to break apart quickly.

Ulrich raised an eyebrow when he heard Odd yell into a pillow, which came out as mumbles. "Uh, you alright man?" Ulrich asked him casually.

It sounded like Odd responded to the question, but he was completely inaudible as he was still face down in the pillow.

"Hey, try lifting your head then speak!" Ulrich rolled his eyes as Odd finally sat up on his bed.

Aelita winced as she noticed the pinkened flesh across his face, looking like it was assaulted multiple times "Ouch…"

"Let me guess, woman problems?" Ulrich asked him, not even needing him to confirm as he put the pieces together.

Odd nodded and looked down at his feet. "Kelly broke up with me since she found out I cheated on her with Trish." Odd began to explain the situation. "Then Trish broke up with me for the same reason."

"Both of them left their mark on me if you get what I'm saying." Odd pointed to the fresh 'tattoo' on his face.

"Well you should know what your problem is." Aelita told him which caused Odd to look at her with a bewildered expression.

"You don't cheat on you girlfriend bro!" Ulrich yelled at him, clearly frustrated at his friends 'player' personality. "That's just something you don't do!"

Odd sighed and played his thumbs, now sitting Indian style on his bed. "Your right and I'll try my best not too."

"No, you will!" Aelita also yelled at Odd. "And we'll be right here will be here for support if you need it, right Ulrich?

"Well…" Ulrich said, sounding like he was about to protest but Aelita punched him in the arm and gave him a stern look. "Uh yeah, don't worry buddy we'll be right here for you."

"Yeah you look ecstatic…"Odd rolled his eyes with a smile on his face. "So what do I do know O' Master of Dating Advice?"

"Well first of all, when you date a girl you need to stay committed to the relationship by not dating other girls on the side." Ulrich slid closer to Aelita and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Aelita and I are doing so well for that reason, we're both happy and we can't imagine being with anyone else."

Aelita smiled and kissed his cheek sweetly before cuddling in his one handed hug.

"And be patient, the right girl for you will be in your life soon." Aelita chimed in. "I was patient and I found my knight in shinning armor right here."

"But how do I know which girl is right for me?" Odd asked the couple.

"Oh, you'll know good buddy." Ulrich smiled at him. "Trust me."

"Alright, I'll let you go back to your little make out session." Odd smiled and grabbed his backpack. "Jeremy promised he would tutor me in Geometry."

"We weren't doing that!" Ulrich yelled before looking around and picking up a Science book off the floor, which looked like it fell off a nearby desk. "We were studying for the big test in a couple days."

"If they grade you on how far you can stick you tongue down her throat, you might get your first A for the semester!" Odd laughed at his own joke and headed for the door.

Ulrich growled and threw the book at him, causing Odd to stumble a little. "At least I have a girl that wants to kiss me."

"Ouch you hit me in my pride." Odd smirked as he blew a kiss at the love birds before exiting the dorm room.

"I hate him so much." Ulrich rolled his eyes and got up to pick up the text book.

"As do I." Aelita smirked and picked up the pen and notebook that fell to the ground when the two teens decided to take a 'break' from studying.

The couple studied for about another hour and a half before Ulrich looked at the alarm clock that was placed on his deck and frowned when he saw the time. "It's almost time for Jim to do his nightly rounds; you better head back to your room before he catches you."

Aelita nodded before she got up to pack up her belongings and threw her coat over her shoulder. It was warmer then usual, which is odd for a night such as this. It's almost Christmas season and Ulrich still thinking of a plan for him to spend the holidays with his pink haired angel.

"Goodnight Ulrich, I love you." Aelita smiled and planted a soft kiss on his lips.

"Love you too Princess." Ulrich returned the kiss then watched Aelita as she walked towards the door and closed it behind her.

**That's about it, A little shorter then I originally planned but I guess I have to work with it. More plot in the next chapter! Thanks to everyone that read and reviewed my story so far. I plan on posting at least 1 chapter a week, so look out for Chapter 5 in the coming week.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own Code Lyoko or any or their characters!**

_Chapter 5  
_

The next morning, Ulrich woke up a little late after a peaceful night of sleep and he just returned to his room after a quick, warm shower. He before getting changed, he heard a beep coming from his phone. He quickly thought it was just Aelita wishing him a good morning or wondering where he was.

After he got changed into a dark green shirt with his army jacket over it and a pair of jeans, he flipped his phone open and saw he received one new text message. But when he looked at the number, he saw it wasn't from Aelita or any of his friends. It was a message from his father.

Ulrich cringed a bit. He and his father have had a very rough relationship to say the least, this was the first time his father acknowledged him in a year. He a deep breath and clicked a button on his phone to open the new message, rolling his eyes when he saw it was a paragraph long.

_Ulrich_

_This is your father! I have received multiple complaints from your principal and teachers about your effort, or lack thereof. I was told that your grades improved a little bit but you are barely passing your core subjects. Now I'm not threatening you. I'm promising that if you get bellow an 85% in ANY of your midyear exams, I WILL transfer you to Steinbeck Military Academy at that moment! If I were you I would get studying!_

_-Your Father _

In a blind rage of frustration, Ulrich threw his phone against the wall as hard as he can. Luckily, the phone stayed in one piece. That's one durable phone.

Ulrich sat down on his bed and put a hand on his head. The midyear tests are tomorrow and he has to score above an 85% for all of his exams. ALL OF THEM! Even with the help of Aelita, Ulrich sees no way he can achieve the goal. This is rare for Ulrich since he's not one to give up so easily.

When Xana created the Colossus to kill Franz Hopper and stop the gang from destroying him, Ulrich felt like giving up right then and there. But he didn't. He summoned his courage and did everything in his power to stop the giant monster. Which ended with Ulrich putting an end to the Colossus, which was a MAJOR part in the gang killing Xana, forever.

But now, Ulrich just doesn't know what to do. He's not what people call 'book smart', the reason why he passes the classes he does is with the tutoring from his friends, especially Aelita. But, Ulrich fears that will not be enough.

Ulrich was knocked out back to reality by the sound of his cell phone ringing, which was plopped nicely on his pillow, where it landed when Ulrich threw it. Not bothering to check the caller id, he answered the call and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Good Morning Ulrich!" Aelita upbeat voice came from the other end of the phone. "I'm calling to make sure your up."

"Oh, morning Princess." Ulrich responded, his back leaning against the wall while he sat on the bed. "I just got changed and so I'll be heading down now."

With that, Ulrich hung up the cell phone and let out a soft sigh. Ulrich's usually one of those kids that wears his emotions on his sleeves and people can tell when he's upset by his body language.

He got up from his bed then got his bag for class off his desk and headed for the door. While Ulrich walked down the dorm corridors, all he could think about was his father's threat. Would his father force him to transfer out of Kadic? Having to leave his friends, leave Aelita behind, his princess. The thought of that alone wanted to make Ulrich vomit.

Ulrich was a few feet away from the typical hang out spot, which is the vending machines, when he heard someone call his name. He looked up and saw the gang relaxing near a couple machine, excluding Yumi.

Ulrich put his best fake smile on and checked his pockets, looking for any loose change he can find. "What's up guys?" Ulrich said casually, sliding past Odd and Jeremy so he can put his money in the machine and make his purchase, which was the hot chocolate. The hot chocolate is popular this time of year, considering the cold temperature.

"We were just talking about the good old days." Odd replied, a cup of orange juice in his hand. "I miss kicking Xana's artificial butt!"

"Yeah, those were good time." Ulrich said with a smirk, leaning against the wall.

The group continued to chat as they awaited the warning bell for the first period class.

**A few hours later**

Ulrich and the others exited their science class and headed to the lunchroom. Ulrich and Aelita are hand in hand, smiles across their face. Though Ulrich still can't shake the text message he received out of his mind.

As they entered, they found themselves face to face with William and Yumi. Yumi and William are holding hands and look like they're in the process of leaving the cafeteria. Ulrich, who hasn't seen or spoken to William since the hospital encounter finds this very awkward.

William stared deep into Ulrich's eyes for a few minutes, like he was searching for something within the brunette. Yumi just smiled kindly at her friends, though she did not dare break the silence. Then after a moment of awkward silence, William and Yumi walked passed the group without saying a word.

When the couple left the cafeteria, Jeremy, Odd, and Aelita glanced at Ulrich, who was just staring blankly ahead of him. He was still trying to piece together what just happened in his mind. Does William still have lingering hatred for him?

After a brief moment, Ulrich shook it off and looked back at his friends, who were still staring at him and awaiting to see what he was to go next. "Come let's get some food before they run out." Ulrich said with a small smile and walked ahead of the others. "I'm starving."

The gang gave each other a small glance before deciding to follow Ulrich. They each got a tray full of food and took a seat in the normal table they sat at everyday. Ulrich and Aelita of course sat next to eat other while Jeremy and Odd sat across from the couple.

The gang of friends had a few conversations about random topics while they ate their lunch. Towards the end of the lunch break, the ringtone of Odd's cell phone filled the air so he instinctively pulled the phone out of his pocket and looked at the contact before answering. "Hey Jenny, what's up?" Odd asked calmly. A minute goes by with complete silence. "Jenny, are you there?" Once again, there is complete silence.

Suddenly, Odd's phone was covered in electricity and gave it's holder an electric shock. Odd, stunned, dropped his phone to the ground and jumped out of his seat. "Jeez, are you ok Odd?" Aelita asked, her eyes wide in shock. "I hate that piece of junk…" Odd grumbled to himself.

Jeremy walked over to where Odd dropped his phone and picked the device up. After briefly analyzing the device, he let out an audible sigh. "I don't think it's you phone's fault Odd." Jeremy showed it to the group, which caused them to widen their eyes in shock and Aelita almost broke down in tears. The Eye of Xana is clearly visible on the front of Odd's cell phone.


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Code Lyoko or any or their characters!**

_Chapter 6_

"This can't be right!" Aelita yelled, luckily the cafeteria was empty since the other students had to go to class. "This has to be some sort of sick joke!"

Ulrich placed a hand on her shoulder in an effort to calm her down. "It's alright Aelita, we'll go…" Aelita pushed her boyfriend's hand off her shoulder and stared daggers at Ulrich, tears in her eyes. "You don't understand Ulrich, my father sacrificed his life for me and now it was all for nothing." Then in a fit of rage, Aelita ran out of the cafeteria.

"Aelita!" Ulrich tried call out to her before she got out of earshot. "You guys call Yumi and have her meet you at the factory." Ulrich instructed his friends. "Aelita and I will join you as soon as we can." With that being said, Ulrich took off in an effort to find Aelita.

**At The Factory**

In the supercomputer room, Jeremy and Odd made a surprising discovery. "The computer's already turned on." Jeremy stated after investigating the supercalculator. "What are you saying Einstein?" Odd asked the boy genius. "Someone has already been here and turned the computer back on."

After taking this new information in, Odd and Jeremy made there way up to the lab and Jeremy sat down in his computer chair and typed a program into the keyboard. "I just activated the superscan, in a few minutes we should find out if there is an activated tower."

Just as Jeremy finished his sentence, the elevator doors opened and Yumi walked out with a smile, but she was not alone. William walked along side his girlfriend with a confident smirk.

"What are you doing here?" Odd asked sourly, still a little bitter for what happened last time William was in the computer lab.

"I thought you could use my help." William responded calmly.

"We don't need help, especially from you." Odd crossed his arms and glared at him.

"Be nice Odd." Yumi scolded her fellow warrior. "He's clearly sorry for the way he acted in the past and all he wants is a chance to prove himself.

Before Odd could respond, the supercomputer flashed and beeped, indicating a tower has been activated. Jeremy quickly began to localize the exact location of the tower.

"Stop this useless bickering; you are all on the same team." Jeremy told them. "Now the activated tower is in the forest sector."

"Should we go to Lyoko?" Odd asked.

Jeremy thought about it for a minute before coming to a conclusion. "Yeah, you and Yumi go to take care of the monsters guarding the tower." Jeremy said before turning around to look at William. "William, you standby incase of an emergency."

William just rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. "Whatever…"

Yumi and Odd both headed for the elevator and pushed the down button to take them to the scanner room. As the elevator door opened, Odd and Yumi both entered the empty scanners then waited for Jeremy to work his magic.

"Here we go." Jeremy cracked his knuckles and began the virtualization process.

"_Transfer Odd! Transfer Yumi!" _

"_Scanner Odd! Scanner Yumi!"_

"_Virtualization!" _

Next thing they knew, Yumi and Odd were floating above the forest sector and both teens landed on one knee as they fell. Jeremy quickly materialized the Overwing and Overboard, which resulted in them boarding the vehicles and taking off towards the activated tower, which was already in site.

**At Kadic**

"Aelita?!" Ulrich busted open the door to her dorm room only to find no sign of his girlfriend. He sucked his teeth and turned back around to continue his search, only to be face to face with Sissi.

"Hey Ulrich, do you like my new outfit?" Sissi asked, pointing to her purple tank top with a glittered pink butterfly in the middle and her bedazzled jean shorts.

Ulrich rolled his eyes and simpily walked past her, a little frustrated. "Sorry, I'm a little too busy to chat." He didn't go for before Sissi grabbed his wrist.

"Not before you tell me what you see in that pink haired floozie!" Sissi demanded.

"Well for one thing, she's not a spoiled little brat like you, Sissi dear." Ulrich said before pulling out of her weak grip and running off.

Sissi put a hand on her side and growled angrily. "No matter what it takes, you will be mine Ulrich Stern!"

"If she's not in the dorms, where else could be?" Ulrich asked himself as he ran out of the dorm building. "Unless…" Ulrich stopped for a moment, partially to catch his breath but mostly to think clearer. "How could you forget about The Hermitage! Ulrich you idiot!" Ulrich yelled at himself before running towards the woods.

**Lyoko**

Odd has a big goofy grin across his face has he recklessly piloted his vehicle, as he took pleasure in the rush of narrowly avoided obstacles.

"I really missed this…"

"Stay focused Odd, remember we have a job to do!" Yumi growled as she's quickly getting frustrated with her friends lackadaisical behavior.

"You don't have to worry, I'm as focused a- " Odd was interrupted by a laser, which just narrowly missed him.

They looked down and saw Xana's monsters ready for them, two Krabs and one Kankrelat to be exact who are guarding the activated tower.

"Alright! Time for target practice!" Odd yelled as he shot a couple laser arrows at one of the Krabs, each arrow just missing the eye of Xana.

As Odd fought one of the Krabs, Yumi is currently being teamed up by the other Krab and the Kankrelat. With one drawn fan, Yumi is able it protect her life points from being hit. Unfortunately, the Overwing isn't as safe. The vehicle eventually got hot enough to be destroyed, forcing Yumi to abandon ship. Once she landed, she quickly drew her second fan and got into her battle stance.

"Shield!" Odd yelled to protect himself against a couple of the Krab's bullets. Odd then turned the Overboard around and prepared a dive towards the monster. "Laser Arrow!" Odd yelled as he and the monster exchanged attacks. Odd got hit in the leg, causing him to loss 10 LP but he managed to stay on the board. Fortunately, Odd's arrow managed to hit the Krab right in the middle of the eye of Xana. "Yes!" Odd cheered as he turned around to help Yumi.

"Yah!" Yumi threw her fan with a fierce battle cry. The fan flew past the second Krab but managed to cut through it on the way back around. Then Odd made quick work of the Kankrelat with a single laser arrow.

"That's right! He are the best!" Odd cheered as he did a little celebratory dance on top of the Overboard.

Yumi rolled her eyes, still slightly keeping her guard up in case more monsters showed up.

"Don't get too confident Odd, I have a feeling Xana won't give up that easily." Jeremy said, keeping an eye on the radar.

Odd is now piloting his vehicle while doing a headstand. "Relax Einstein, whatever Xana sends our way we'll knock down!"

"Watch out!" Jeremy warned, when suddenly two Tarantulas appeared from behind the tower.

Not giving Odd time to get up from his headstand, the monsters fired 3 shots at the defenseless Odd, quickly devirtualizing him.

"Odd!" Yumi yelled and quickly drew her fan then tried her best to block the fast and powerful lasers of the Tarantulas.

The 2 on 1 assault soon became too much for Yumi and she eventually suffered the same fate as Odd.

"No way!" Jeremy said to himself loudly.

"Something wrong?" William asked, walking over to the computer to see if anything interesting happened.

"Odd and Yumi are both devirtualized and I still can't get a hold of Aelita!"

"Should I go to Lyoko?" William asked, ready to rush to the scanner room

Jeremy thought about it for a minute but eventually shook his head. "Not yet, wait here for Aelita and Ulrich, who should be here soon."

Jeremy then entered Ulrich's number and decided to see what taking him so long.

**Forest**

Ulrich is currently running in the forest, the Hermitage now in view. Just as he was about to open the door, his phone rang and when he checked the Caller ID he quickly picked it up.

"_Jeremy, what's up?"- __**U**_

"_It's a disaster over here, Odd and Yumi both got devirtualized and the tower's still activated. We need you and Aelita here immediately!"- __**J**_

"_Alright calm down, I just arrived at the Hermitage so just wait a couple more minutes."- __**U**_

Ulrich hung up and entered the ancient house, he couldn't help but feel a little intimidated as he looked around at all of the knocked over and destroyed furniture.

"Aelita!" Ulrich called, hoping to get some sort of response back. He walked up the stairs and opened the door to a familiar Aelita's destroyed old bedroom. As he walked in, he saw a familiar pink haired girl curled up in a ball on the bed, letting out loud and painful sobs.

Ulrich sits next to her and placed an arm around her. "It's gonna be alright Aelita." Ulrich said softly, trying to comfort her.

Aelita rested her head on his chest as she cried and eventually she calmed down. She's now sniffling as Ulrich held her, feeling safe in his arm.

"I'm never going back to Lyoko…" Aelita said, breaking a short moment of silence.

"You don't mean that Aelita." Ulrich responded, rubbing her back softly. "You're the only one that can deactivate the towers on Lyoko."

Aelita suddenly jumped up, looking in his eyes. "I can't go back, I already lost my dad during this war with Xana, I can't lose anyone else." Aelita teared up a little again. "Especially you."

Ulrich sighed, remembering his father's threat about his grades, but he quickly blocked those thoughts out and held her hand. "You can't go on living like that." Ulrich told her. "You have to face your fear before it consumes you."

"Don't you understand, I can't do that!" Aelita yelled at him suddenly before going back into her sad previously state. "I'm not strong enough…"

"You're a lot stronger then you think." Ulrich told her. "The only thing holding that's you back is yourself."

"What do you mean?" Aelita asked, no longer sad or angry but interested in what he has to say.

"You're a powerful warrior on Lyoko but the only thing stopping you from being the best is your fear." Ulrich said. "You're afraid that you'll let us down, that you'll fail on Lyoko. It's ok to have fear, everyone has it, it's how you conqueror it that determines a real warrior."

Aelita looked down at the ground, digesting what her boyfriend just told her.

"I won't force you to go to the factory with me but you have to make a choice." Ulrich let go of her hand and stood up, towering in front of her in this situation. "You either come with me and we go deactivate the tower together or you stay here and let not just your friends down but the entire world."

"You're right Ulrich i'm scared, I'm scared I'll lose you and the others to Xana." Aelita gulped audibly, but she even surprised herself when she arose from her seat. "But as long as your with me, I will never back down!"

Ulrich smiled and motioned towards the door. "Come on, the others are expecting us."

Aelita nodded and smiled back as the couple ran out of the house and towards the factory.

**Factory**

Jeremy's eyes are glued to the computer screen, staring at the 2 red dots that represented Xana's monsters.

Odd and Yumi are sulking by the holomap, mentally kicking themselves over their most recent failure. While William is waiting impatiently by the elevator.

A few seconds later, the elevator door opened up revealing Ulrich and Aelita inside. "Sorry we're late." Ulrich said with a smile.

"At last!" Jeremy turned his chair around to face the couple. "Head to the scanner room, you three are headed to the forest sector."

"Three?" Aelita asked the boy genius.

"Yeah, i'm gonna help you out." William stated, which surprised the couple.

Aelita looked up at Ulrich, who didn't look upset at all. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go." Ulrich told him, which surprised everyone in the lab.

William nodded and accompanied Ulrich and Aelita in the elevator, pressing the down button as he entered.

The three teens soon arrived in the scanner room and they each entered an individual scanner.

_Transfer Ulrich! Transfer William! Transfer Aelita!_

_Scanner Ulrich! Scanner William! Scanner Aelita!_

_Virtualization!_

The three warriors materialized above the Forest Sector and fell to the ground, landing on one knee. Jeremy quickly materialized the Overbike and Ulrich ran to board it with Aelita right behind him.

"Sorry William, but I have no more vehicles left for you." Jeremy told him through the head piece.

William, who has the same attire from when he was under Xana's control except with no eye of Xana in the middle of his bodysuit, smirked. "That's fine, I have my own way of travel anyway." Suddenly, William's virtual body transformed to smoke and accelerated down the path leading to the activated tower, leaving Ulrich and Aelita in a state of awe before they followed him.

At the site of the activated tower, the Tarantulas quickly noticed the super smoke and fired their powerful lasers at the smoke with no effect. One of the Tarantulas noticed the Overbike speeding towards the activated tower and began firing at it.

Ulrich drew one of his sabers and began deflecting lasers, buying Aelita enough time to activate her wings and abandon the vehicle in order for her to make it to the tower alone.

William then appeared in his solid form on top of one of the Tarantulas with one foot on its head and the other on its arm, he then summoned his Zweihander and stabbed the eye of Xana with his brute force. William finally jumped off the monster before it exploded, smiling at his work.

Ulrich dodged and blocked lasers with his saber before finally pushing a trigger below one of the handles of the Overbike, causing the bike to drive automatically. He then did a back flip off of the Overbike and landed perfectly on both feet. The bike soon rammed into Tarantula, destroying it as well as the vehicle.

Ulrich looked back at William and noticed that he made quick work out of the other

Tarantula, causing him to smile. He soon heard a rumbling, which caused him to turn around and draw his two sabers.

A Megatank began rolling down the path they came for and appeared right in front of Ulrich, it opened it's shell and quickly fired one of it's massive lasers at him. This forced Ulrich to cross his blades and block the blast. Ulrich is already having trouble blocking, the power behind the laser is slowly pushing Ulrich back, even while he's trying his best to stand in place.

Acting quickly, William activated his super smoke and accelerated to the side of the Megatank and gave it a powerful shoulder block when he returned to his solid form, the force caused the monster to fall off the edge and into the digital sea.

William then walked up to Ulrich, who is on one knee after he became exhausted after blocking the Megatank's laser.

He soon stood up and nodded at William. "Thanks."

William smiled and nodded back.

Aelita finally arrived at the activated tower and entered the tall structure. She walked to the middle of the first platform and looked up, causing her to levitate to the second platform. She then walked to the middle of that platform, causing an interface to appear. Aelita placed her hand on the middle of the interface and entered the code LYOKO. "Tower deactivated!" Aelita said to herself as screens fell behind her.

After the devirtualization, the gang decided to have a brief meeting in the lab to discuss the future of William.

"What's gonna happen to me?" William asked the others simply. "Am I a Lyoko Warrior again?"

After glancing at each other, Odd, Aelita, and Ulrich nodded at in approval. Jeremy sighed and stood up from his computer chair. "Alright, but this is your last chance." Jeremy informed him. "So if I were you, I wouldn't blow it."

William smiled and placed his hands in his jacket pockets. "Don't worry, I learned from my mistake from the past and they not only made me a better person but a better warrior."

Jeremy smiled back and crossed his arms, going back to thinking about who would come here to restart the super computer and revive Xana.

"Now, let's get to class before Mrs. Hertz gives us detention for missing her test." Aelita said as the gang headed to the elevator.

"That's today?!" Odd moaned and bit his lower lip. "But I didn't study!"

"Some things never change." Ulrich commented, causing the group to erupt in laughter.


End file.
